A 12-year-old Modesto girl died last week, three days after she began to show symptoms of meningitis.

Wednesday, Shannon San Nicolas went to bed complaining of a headache. Friday, the Paradise Elementary School student died in a hospital bed after suffering seizures and heart failure, effects of advanced meningococcal meningitis.

Shocked by how fast the disease took hold, the girl's father wants to warn other parents of the deadly disease, an infection of the fluid surrounding spinal cord. Early symptoms include fever, headaches, a purple rash and a stiff neck.

"We thought it was the flu," Harvey San Nicolas said Monday, shaking his head.

This is the second meningitis-related death in Stanislaus County this year. In January, an 11-month-old girl died from a meningitis infection.

The case was the 15th in the county so far this year, coming on the heels of a cluster of 10 menin- gitis cases reported in January and February, the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency said.

The Health Services Agency typically sees one meningitis- related death and 15 to 20 cases of meningitis a year, said Roselyn Cunningham, a nurse with the agency's communicable disease division. Agency officials are alarmed at the high number of cases so far this year, but haven't discovered a reason for the infections.

Meningitis spreads through secretions of the nose and throat. Close contact with an infected person, like kissing or drinking from the same glass, can spread the infection, Cunningham said.

Casual contact, like sitting next to an infected person in a classroom, will not spread the infection.

The infection often spreads quickly, and while meningitis deaths are somewhat unusual, they can occur within days of the first symptoms.

Officials at Paradise School on California Avenue west of Modesto told parents and students of the dangers of meningitis Friday in a letter that went home to families. Monday, a nurse discussed meningitis with students, helping them determine if they may have been infected.

Nurses with the Health Services Agency now are making telephone calls to parents of students who may be at risk, advising them to see their doctor for an antibiotic that should stop the infection. It takes from one to 10 days after an infection for symptoms to appear.

Meanwhile, grief counselors met with students in small groups, helping them come to terms with the death of a classmate, a happy child who loved to read and play softball.

When Modesto A's players heard about her death, they presented her brothers with an autographed ball during the eighth annual Drug Abuse Resistance Education Day at John Thurman Field -- an event Shannon planned to attend with her class.

While her brothers attended the game, her father planned the funeral. "I can see losing my daughter to a car accident, a fall," he said. "But to something like this? It's brutal."

Anyone who thinks he or she may have been exposed to meningococcal meningitis should call a doctor immediately or contact the Health Services Agency's communicable disease reporting line at 558-5678. For more information on meningitis, see the agency's Web site at www.schsa.org.

Reprinted by permission of Modesto Bee.